Non-friend
by TheWayToCampLegacy
Summary: A spin-off oneshot from my other series. Takes place in the future, telling the story about how Charlie got her scar.


**Ally**

"Drakon at the barrier!" Someone shouted in the dining pavilion. It was lunchtime, and the sun was beating down on us with no mercy. I dropped my muffin. Megan's fork hit the table while Charlie groaned and set her sandwich on her plate. "Not another one!" She grumbled.

I pushed my bench back and stood up. "C'mon guys. Everyone else is coming to fight."

"Can't they handle it?"

"My point!"

I sighed. Even as the youngest, I did have to take charge quite often over Megan and Charlie.

"We're the kids of the legendary Seven." I reasoned. "It's only right that we should help."

A roar pierced the air. Sounds of swords clashing on the drakon's hide rang through the camp.

"Fine." Megan said. "I'll go grab my sword." She started to leave before Charlie said "But you don't use weapons."

"I'm trying to stall here!"

"I'll go get my axe." I said. "Meet you there Charlie."

"Sure. I'll go get my sword because I actually use one. Unlike Megan."

"I heard that!"

—–—

I raised my axe to block the drakon's gaze, as it was paralysing, while I shouted to the other campers to spear the monster's eyes. I caught a glimpse of Megan leading a few other legacies to take the drakon by the feet. Charlie was fighting at the side of some other campers, trying to distract the monster.

This was the norm at Camp Legacy, ever since monsters like the drakon started coming back stronger and more vicious. They were the spawn of Tartarus; revenge for the fall of the giants years ago. It was foretold in a prophecy that the descendants of the Seven would rise to combat the evil, or die trying. That was us, pretty much, and I wasn't too happy about the possibility of death, but heck, no one was.

Megan thrust her hands out, eyes shut tight in concentration. The ground beneath the drakon's clawed feet began to churn, melting into quicksand. The monster slowly started to sink, roaring as it struggled to overcome Megan's efforts. It swept its front feet through the sand, almost like a tiny puppy doing a doggie paddle. Except it wasn't a tiny puppy, rather a vicious, 30 foot tall, dragon-like spawn of hell.

I scanned the field, searching for any injured legacies that needed to be taken out of the fight. I saw Charlie doing the same. Suddenly her face soured, and when I followed her gaze, it landed on Sophia Clarkson.

No wonder Charlie looked pissed. The said legacy of Tyche had been one of Charlie's first friends upon arriving at Camp Legacy, and she ultimately dumped Charlie after making her think she had a real friendship. And unfortunately (I'm not sure for who), Charlie was NOT over it.

Sophia made the mistake of lowering her shield at the wrong time, instantly freezing up when she caught a glimpse of the drakon's paralysing gaze (Strangely bad luck for a descendant of the luck goddess).

Normally, this wasn't that huge of a problem. I mean, we get attacked by drakons pretty often. We had knowledge on how to reverse the paralysis. It would've just been an embarrassment to make such a stupid mistake. But this drakon was out for more than blood.

The monster stomped its foot a few yards in front of Megan, jolting her and breaking her focus. The quicksand dissipated and the drakon now stood on solid ground. It moved towards Sophia, screeching in defiance, and paralysing anyone who dared to draw near.

Charlie's knuckles turned white on her sword hilt. Her eyes widened. "Sophia, no!" She ran to where Sophia was, yelling for her to get out the way.

I felt just as frozen. My feet were glued to the ground. The only thing I could do was watch, as my axe slipped from my fingers.

Megan had caught sight of what was happening, and she was _flipping_ out. The earth around her aligned with her emotions, beginning to crack and shake on the surface.

It was too late. I tried to close my eyes, desperate for this to be a dream, only to see the downward swing of a claw...

Charlie.

Charlotte.

No, no, dammit no!

The world turned grey. I found myself running, my heart getting heavier every time my feet hit the ground. But everything seemed to move in slow motion. I heard Megan scream Charlie's name, tears streaming down her face. The time it took to get to Charlie felt like an eternity. The distance between us felt like miles away.

I wasn't surprised when the first thing I saw was blood.

Charlie lay on the ground, one hand clasped over the left side of her face, red spilling from beneath her palm. Her face was contorted in pain, like she was about to scream at any moment. She was hyperventilating, her chest rising and falling, like a single spring in a network of gears. Her sword had been cast into the dust, forgotten.

A defiant shriek shook my skull. The drakon had been slain, but not before it could strike one of my closest friends.

Megan stumbled forward and dropped to her knees beside Charlie. She started to sob. "Y-you idiot! Wha-what were you thinking?"

Charlie's eyes were screwed shut. When she tried to speak, her voice was wracked with pain. "I c-couldn't let her die."

"And at the risk of your own life? Even after what she did to you?"

Charlie didn't reply. We knew what the answer was anyway. Its testimony would be written into her skin forever.

A crowd had started to form, gathering around my friend. Campers were gasping in horror when they saw the amount of blood. I'm pretty sure one guy even passed out after taking one look.

I squeezed Charlie's hand as a meager supply of comfort, since she was too traumatized to get up, while Megan flicked Charlie's forehead, muttering, "Idiot, you idiot. Gods, you're such an _idiot_."

I gently pried Charlie's hand away from her wound, and tried to gauge exactly how bad the injury was. And hell, it wasn't good.

First thing I noticed; the wound was much deeper than I expected. Most likely she was in close range to the drakon's claws. Also, as soon as I took Charlie's hand off, blood started to flow as easily as turning on a faucet. It would definitely be leaving a scar.

"Nectar! Does anyone have nectar?" Megan called out desperately to the others. A canteen made it's way to her hands, which she opened and poured over Charlie's face.

The wound immediately started to close. It was nearly halfway healed before I realized something. "Wait! Stop!"

Megan stopped pouring, and looked at me, her expression one of confusion. "W-what?".

"It's going to take too much nectar to completely close the wound." I said. "Anymore, and she's going to burst into flames."

Megan visibly paled. She laid her hand on Charlie's forehead and gasped. "I-it's like she's burning up from the inside."

"Coming through! It's the infirmary!" The crowd parted, revealing a few Apollo legacies holding a stretcher.

When Charlie saw them, she started to sit up. "I d-don't need it. I can walk."

Megan pushed her down. "No! Gods, you're stubborn too."

We watched as they eased Charlie onto the stretcher, and took her away. We followed, up until the door of the infirmary.

"What? We're not allowed in?" Megan asked.

"Afraid not." Said the guy at the door. "We'll only let you in when it's all clear."

"Can't we just go in to be there for her? Comfort her or something?" I pleaded.

"I'm really sorry. Infirmary rules." Then he shut the door in our faces.

"Argh!" Megan kicked aside a rock, soccer style. It promptly crumbled into dust.

I sighed and plopped down on a fallen log. My hands started smoldering, and the log nearly caught fire. Stupid emotion-tuned powers.

"What now?" I asked Megan.

"I dunno," She kicked another rock and watched the dust settle over the bushes. "There's nothing we can do right now that's gonna get us any closer to Charlie."

She sat down beside me, head down, dark hair falling over her face. I took a moment to marvel about how much she'd changed since arriving at camp. She wasn't the shy, awkward and pale kid she was two years ago. She was taller, more confident, rather popular among all campers (Most of us were; Our parents were legends after all), plus she developed a sweet tan. But she wasn't as innocent as she used to be, like she'd grown up too fast. She was prone to stress and easily made anxious. Judging by how much older she acted, it was hard to believe she was only thirteen.

I tried for a bit of small talk to take her mind off things. "So…change into any new animals lately?"

"I'm with you practically every second of the day. You should know."

I mentally slapped myself. Trying to take Megan's mind off things would only make matters worse. "Right, stupid question."

Her chocolate brown eyes turned sympathetic. Megan was pretty good at reading people. "Well, I changed into a falcon yesterday when I was patrolling the cliffs."

"Really? That's hella cool."

A soft smile spread across her face. "Yeah, it was pretty cool. I jumped off the cliff and changed halfway down, just because I could. I'm pretty sure some other campers thought I was going to die."

I grinned. "I thought I heard screaming. You totally interrupted my afternoon nap."

We burst into laughter. For a moment it felt like we were just two, perfectly normal teenagers, living a perfectly normal life.

I was about to remind Megan about the time when I spewed milk out of my nose when Tucker what's his name strutted up and tried to shatter our temporary happiness.

"Heard your friend got drakoned earlier. What a loser."

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, all the color drained from his face, and when I realized why, I almost laughed.

Megan's glare turned so cold, I almost got the shivers down my spine.

"Say it again," Her voice was dead calm. "And I'll personally drag you through the Fields of Punishment and throw you at the foot of my grandfather's throne. You got that?"

Tucker gingerly nodded, as if making the wrong move would result in his head being separated from his neck. Which it would.

"Now scram."

Tucker took off faster than you could say 'Hades'. At that point I couldn't hold it in anymore. I laughed so hard I got stitches in my side.

Megan cracked a smile. "What an idiot."

I offered a fistbump, which she gratefully accepted. "That was awesome." I admitted. "I would never be able to scare someone that much. Did you _see_ how fast he took off?"

She chuckled. " 's what he gets for insulting Charlie."

Someone behind us cleared their throat. We turned around. It was the guy from earlier.

"Hey guys," he had his hand on his neck like he was nervous. "You can come and, uh, see her now."

Megan frowned. "Dude, what's wrong? You seem pretty high strung."

He gestured to the rapidly spreading bruise on his cheek. "Your friend wasn't too happy about getting patched up." He winced.

Megan's mouth went into an o. "Uh, sorry about that."

"It's no-" he winced again. "Problem."

I nodded to the guy. "We'll see her now. Come on now, Nutmeg."

"Don't call me that!"

—–—

Megan nearly burst into tears.

The legacy of Poseidon was passed out, and judging by the bump peeking out from under the fever pack on her forehead, she'd fought back and was forced to be knocked out. She kept stirring in her sleep, like she was having nightmares that were all too common among demigods. But what hurt the most were the stitches.

Blue thread was running from just above her right eye and down to her chin, weaving in and out of her skin as easily as cloth. Tiny drops of blood leaked through the stitches, like they were done in haste rather than caution. I couldn't but help but think that the placement of the wound looked familiar, as if I'd seen it somewhere before.

"Ch-Charlie-" Megan choked. She looked just about ready to cry now. "Gods…"

We both walked over, taking either side of the bed. Megan held Charlie's hand while I laid a hand on her neck.

"Her fever's still dangerously high." I said. "Look's like we won't be using nectar or ambrosia anytime soon."

"I feel bad for nearly overdosing her." Megan confessed. A tear slipped out of control and escaped down her cheek.

"It's not your fault." I assured her. "You were dead worried. I would've done the same."

"Same here."

"Charlie?" We cried in unison.

She gave her signature lopsided grin. "Hi-ouch!" She flinched and touched the stitches on her face. Her smile died. "I-is it bad?"

"No." Megan said quickly.

"Lies. Alyssa, be honest with me. Is it bad?" Charlie said, her tone deadly blunt.

I was taken aback. It was an unconscious rule among us. _Never_ call me Alyssa unless it was serious.

"It's going to leave a scar." I said truthfully. "And it might not look pretty." I bit my lip in anticipation of her answer.

Charlie scowled, making the stitches ripple. "So much for being the honest one, Megan."

Megan flinched like she had just been slapped, and she didn't a good job of hiding it. Her expression turned cold. Her eyes smoldered with fury. "After all this time I was worried sick about you…" Her voice shook. "You still manage to treat me like I'm the problem." She shoved a chair out of the way with a dragging _screeech_ and stormed outside, the floor trembling in her wake.

Immediately Charlotte's features changed. Her eyes turned wide and regret radiated off her. Her voice was small. "I-I shouldn't have said that."

"No duh." I crossed my arms, trying to look ticked off. I failed. The tightening anger in my chest melted away. I tried to look sympathetic, but Charlie didn't notice.

"Great." She miffed. "Ruining friendships. Just my day job."

"You know that's not true."

"Nope. It's a _hashtag Charlie fact_. I'm gonna start dropping them from time to time."

"Charlie, don't-" I tried to say. But she was already on a roll.

"Charlie fact! Charlotte Jackson is hated by everyone." Charlie's voice was dripping with fake excitement. "I think I'm gonna do another one! Charlie fact! No one will ever notice if I die!"

I screwed my eyes shut, and tried to block out her voice, as she continued to drop bombs of negative remarks about herself. The world seemed to split down the middle right in front of me, as self hate and insecurity rained down like missiles, exploding and stinging me with the shrapnel of Charlotte's raw feelings.

I couldn't take it anymore. I clutched at the sides of my head and screamed, "Stop!".

Immediately I felt a warm feeling spread over my body, starting from my heart and moving throughout my body. It wasn't until I smelt smoke that I opened my eyes and saw that my entire body was engulfed in flames.

"Great job Alyssa." Said Charlie flatly. She had stop dropping Charlie Facts, but her tone still dripped with venom. "You succeeded in scorching the infirmary floor."

The tears that were threatening to spill evaporated in the heat as I glared through the thin veil of fire. I counted to three and let the flames dissipate, then took a lungful of air just like dad taught me.

I forced myself to meet Charlie's eyes. This wasn't the right time to try and comfort her. As close as Megan and Charlie were, they both have different ways of clearing their minds. Charlotte needed space to think. Megan needed someone to talk to and get things off her chest.

"Look Charlie," I said, making sure the hard edge in my tone was clear. "I'm gonna go head out and find Megan to give you some space. I don't know how you feel, and I don't know how Megan feels, but I do know how I feel, and I need a break. I.M me if you want anything, and I'll bring it."

Something in Charlie's eyes said regret, and I sensed some of the initial anger from earlier relent. Maybe seeing me on fire made it clear to her what words could do.

She hung her head, and in a quiet voice, "Okay...thanks Ally." A small tear slipped down the side of her face. And in an even smaller voice, "I-I'm so, so sorry."

I wiped the tear away from her cheek and hugged her tightly. She returned the hug. Even through the traumatising events of today, Charlie didn't hesitate to hug back.

I grinned and playfully punched her shoulder. "You've gotta get a hold of that temper of yours."

"Yeah… I know. Tell Megan I'm sorry for me please?"

"Of course."

"...See you later."

"See ya."

 **END**


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